By Nusrat Mirza
While India is following the policy of USA and has just jumped on USA broken wagon against China and Pakistan, it is doing all activities to please USA to contain China and with this policy it will use obtained strength against Pakistan. This will put it in to isolation as all of its neighbors shall stand against it sooner or later. Nepal has already has openly comes out against India and Bangladesh and Sri Lanka has to show their teeth after a little while.
India’s former NSA Shivshankar Menon has cautioned India jumping on the US bandwagon against China and Pakistan. Describing China’s greatest strategic challenge, Menon says India should retain strategic autonomy, not with US. Even when India is under pressure to jump on the US bandwagon to confront China, the country’s former National Security Advisor (NSA) Shivshankar Menon has cautioned against allying with the global power.
While describing China as India’s “greatest strategic challenge”, he said New Delhi needed to retain its strategic autonomy rather than seeking an alliance with the US, which is withdrawing from the world and also there is uncertainty of how it will choose to deal with China. He said this makes a case for India to devise its ways.
“Certainly, it the US will no longer be the upholder of international order, economic or political, and seems to have tired of that role,” said Menon, in a policy paper on India’s foreign affairs strategy, written for the Brookings Institution India Centre, an American research group and a think-tank.
The ex-diplomat said while India must work with other powers to ensure that the region stays multi-polar and China behaves responsibly, it was possible only after ironing out economic and trade differences with countries like Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, and others, who have been part of India’s Act East, a policy to work in the fields of defense, intelligence and security.
“But it is hard to sustain a political-military relationship with partners if there are constant differences with them in economic relations, in bilateral and multilateral negotiations on trade, climate change, and other issues. India cannot have an activist political and defense outreach if its economic and trade policy is inward-looking, and both are disconnected from each other,” he said.
The former Indian diplomat, also an internationally acclaimed expert on Chinese affairs, said strategic autonomy has served India well in much more difficult circumstances even when it lacked capabilities. He said New Delhi needed to concentrate its efforts on strengthening itself, consolidating its periphery and external balancing.
For India Shangai cooperation Organization (SCO) shall be one of the best platform to sort out its difference with Pakistan and China, instead of losing its autonomy and putting itself in danger of war from several fronts siding USA. To become or tool USA ally is not a good option, as has been well described by Mr. Menon. In case of war, the economy of warring country shall be destroyed, no matter if a country is small like Pakistan or large as India.
Further, in case war with China, the economy of China may survive but Indian one will completely shattered. USA has offer reconciliation in the dispute with China. Everyone knows that USA is not a good mediator thus may not be accepted by other parties as there is tilt in USA policy towards India. Furthermore, the contradictions of Indian society have emerging already with the policy of Indian Prime Minister Modi. This will put India’s stability in danger.
India, Pakistan and China are members of SCO. It will be good that the issues are settled within the region. Let the countries of the region keep USA outside the conflicts of the region by using SCO platform. Going back former Indian NSA Mr. Menon said “Avoiding war and attaining one’s goals is the highest form of strategy by any tradition or book — whether of one follow the philosophy of Kautilya, Sun Tzu or Machiavelli,“
One can note that in Afghanistan, Pakistan has got the US, Russia, and China to buy into the idea that the Taliban should be accommodated in the Afghan government and that Pakistan can deliver that outcome. And it did. India should follow that example for the peace of their people and the people of the region.